Providence Atoll

The Providence Atoll is part of the Seychelles, in the Farquhar Group. The islands in the group are small, coraline and inhospitable. The atoll has a more than 30 km long north-south axis, and is up to 10 km wide. The total area covered by the atoll is approximating 200 km². The aggregate land area, however, is only about 1.5 km². There are two islands in the atoll:

• Providence Island is located in the far north of the atoll, at 9°14′S 51°03′E / 9.233°S 51.050°E / -9.233; 51.050. It is 4 km long north-south, and up to 400 m wide. The land area is a little more than one km². There is a small settlement in its southern-central part (pop. 6).

• Cerf Island is located in the far south of the atoll, almost 30 km south of Providence Island, at 9°30′S 51°01′E / 9.500°S 51.017°E / -9.500; 51.017. The island is more than 4 km long, and up to 500 meters wide, but in some places only 50 meters, with a land area of about 0.5 km². It is uninhabited.

The closest neighbor of the atoll is St. Pierre Island, 35 km west of Cerf Island.

There are records of Maldivian mariner presence in this atoll from the 20th century, when a trading vessel from southern Maldives reached Providence Atoll after drifting in the ocean for weeks.